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Consistency is a good thing, whether it’s parents applying rules to their children or elected officials following the law. Inconsistency can mean children misbehave because they know they will sometimes get away with it. And inconsistency can allow elected officials to do what will politically please their constituents most of the time rather than what is right all of the time. Such as those elected officials who clamor and pound the campaign trail, demanding that the Legislature “follow the law” and appropriate money for the Permanent Fund...
As if COVID-19 wasn’t destructive enough, politics has made it worse. It delayed vaccination drives and turned the needle into a political statement, dissuading millions from getting the shot. That needs to stop. If people choose not to get vaccinated, that’s their right. But self-serving office holders have turned it into a debate about freedom, not safety. That’s a bad way to make community health decisions. The country needs to work together — not start fights — to overcome the coronavirus, beat down the pandemic and get closer to 2019 norm...
Herring eggs much appreciated Wrangell Central Council Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (CCTHITA) would like to thank Trixie Kalkins-Bennett of the Ketchikan Indian Community and fishermen from Ketchikan, Colleen James-Olson and Esther Reese, Wrangell Cooperative Association administrator, for collaborating with us, and to the people who helped distribute herring eggs, a cherished traditional food of the Tlingits, to the community on April 21. They include Annette Thompson, Jamie and Caleb Stough, Jerry Lee Knapp, Liz Romane of Tribal...
The last time Alaska changed the state tax on motor fuel, gasoline cost about 36 cents a gallon at a Lower 48 pump, the average home price in the United States was $24,000, and the average price of a new car was about $3,500. The motor fuel tax rate in Alaska in 1970 was 8 cents a gallon, about half the price of a cup of coffee. Gasoline now runs about $2.50 a gallon in the Lower 48, $3 in Anchorage, and closer to $4 a gallon in California. The average home price in the country is over...
The Matanuska is old, no question about it. Even after a $47 million rebuild in 2018-2019, it will continue to suffer from the ailments of age as a 58-year-old ship in salt water. But Alaskans should question why the ship keeps coming out of service with mechanical problems. Sadly, the ferry has become as undependable as Democrats and Republicans working together. What are the state's costs of repairs and lost revenue from the service outages? What are the costs to people and businesses of...
Federal bailout does not build an economy The news story on Page 3 of the April 22 Wrangell Sentinel, “Federal aid helps Southeast second time in 25 years,” compares apples to oranges (comparing federal aid for the timber industry 25 years ago with federal aid for the tourism industry during the pandemic). More than 200 full-time jobs were lost at the sawmill. Some workers were retrained for other fields of work, or left town. The independent logger received nothing, nor the tugboat companies and its full-time employees, which outnumber the...
"Confidence in an economy matters," Dan Robinson, research chief at the state Department of Labor, told the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this month. "There is an economic cost of not solving these problems." He was talking with legislators about the state's job loss, population loss, economic loss and inability to agree on a fiscal plan to pay for public services long term. For most of the past 30 years, Alaska has taken from savings, prayed for high oil prices and rejoiced at any...
With more than $1 billion in federal pandemic aid heading to the state treasury, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska's 60 legislators are busy figuring out the best way to spend the money. Our elected leaders need to stick with spending decisions that will do the most long-term good for communities, resisting the temptation of politically popular cash payouts to individuals. It's disturbing to hear talk among some elected officials in the Capitol that the federal money could be used - in a roundabout...
I saw a falling star last night and it reminded me of our Alaska Marine Highway System. Both are in a free fall. We cannot do much about the star, but maybe we can rescue our ferry system. We cannot continue to serve coastal communities with an ever-increasing subsidy. Significant fare increases have caused a substantial decline in ridership, fewer sailings and fewer ships operating. More than half of the fleet is laid up. Rather than elaborate as to the failures of past and current...
I wrote my first news story 52 years ago last week for my college paper. That year and every year since, I was taught, reminded, practiced and adhered to Associated Press style and always identified elected officials by their political party. Put a D after their name, or an R. It was automatic, a blank space that reporters had to fill in. An elected official's name without a party affiliation was incomplete. It was as if the party initial told readers all they needed to know, and our reporting...
States and cities have tried a lot of creative slogans over the years to entice people to come visit. "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." The iconic "I Love NY" slogan and logo. And there's the romantic "Virginia is for lovers." Now we have the newest entrant among tourism marketing campaigns. We could call it: "Get stuck in Alaska." The state of Alaska will offer free COVID-19 vaccinations for travelers who come to the 49th state this summer. If the fishing and scenery, the long summer nigh...
College student looks at ethics of gene editing Is it morally right to gene edit? There are people with various ideas on both ends of the spectrum; some believe by having the power to gene edit you are playing the role of God, while others believe it's OK in certain situations. I am here to tell you why in some cases I believe gene editing is the right thing to do. My premises are: If gene editing can better the outlook of someone's life, then in some cases it is right. In some cases, gene...
Though the Legislature is not looking to adopt a state sales tax or income tax this year, most lawmakers know it is inevitable. And most Alaskans should know it too, considering how we have dipped into savings more than half of the past 30 years to pay for services and the revenue gap is only getting worse. But which tax? Which is fairest to the largest number of people? Which is best (least worst) for the economy? And how do taxes compare with further cuts in public services and the prospect...
The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan became law on March 11. Much of the federal money is directed to help states, cities, businesses and individuals recover from the economic damage of the pandemic. Aid for the beleaguered tourism, travel and hospitality industries - which suffered more that most with the near-total shutdown of events and vacations - was a major part of the congressional work. And yet, here it is a month later, and the governor's office has only now announced it will propose...
I know better than to romanticize beach glass. I know most began as beer bottles, with a random bottle of SKYY vodka contributing a little blue among the white and green and brown. But I also know that how things begin isn't always how they end, and I wonder where and how that one piece of purple started. As I wander among the rocks and the wet sand, picking and collecting bits of color, I can feel how the waters and the grit blunt sharp edges. What started out as pointed and cutting has become...
The Canadian border has been closed for more than a year and, judging from last week's news, it's not likely to reopen in the late-spring future or even the early-summer future. British Columbia recorded its highest number of daily cases last week. For the first time in the pandemic, British Columbia reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases on two consecutive days. Last Friday's case count was a record high, surpassed the next day by an even higher count. The previous record was set just...
No, a state sales tax would not be good for Wrangell, Ketchikan, Sitka or the 100 other cities and boroughs in Alaska that rely on their local sales tax to fund schools, roads, police and other municipal services. Those communities have relied on sales taxes for decades, tailoring the rate, exemptions and rules to local needs, without worrying about the state coming in and taking a cut or taking control. But that may not matter when Alaska's elected leaders finally deal with the inevitable: The...
House working to add Wrangell fisheries and children's services jobs The Alaska Legislature is more than halfway through session, and I am happy to report a few successes in the legislative budget process that will benefit Wrangell residents. Last year, Wrangell officials came to me with an idea to create a social worker position that would be funded partially through the state and partially through local means. We were able to add a part-time Office of Children's Services caseworker for...
The federal money that will flow into our state from the American Rescue Plan - the latest round of pandemic aid from Washington, D.C. - is the proverbial once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Alaskans to do good things with more than $2 billion. The total includes almost $1.2 billion that will go to the state, $357 million for schools, $230 million for local communities, a couple hundred million dollars more for housing assistance, tens of millions each for energy improvements to homes, the...
GCI, the largest telecommunications provider in the state, is closing down its call center jobs in Anchorage and moving the work to a contractor in the Philippines. It joins a growing list of U.S. companies outsourcing their customer service jobs overseas. The fact that GCI is one of many U.S. businesses to send work out of the country doesn't make it right, nor does it make it wrong. But it is another example of job and economic loss in a state that already is suffering from outmigration. More...
Recall effort not based on facts and was not positive The past year has been difficult for everyone. My family has been acutely aware of the issues surrounding COVID-19, and Lynn and I have lived every day knowing that our actions have a direct impact on our friends and neighbors. But inaction also can have consequences. We take this responsibility very seriously. As mayor, I was faced with difficult and consequential leadership decisions. Early on, an emergency order was adopted that gave authority to the city manager or mayor to make rapid, u...
Separate decisions affecting an effort to recall Wrangell's mayor and the Juneau-Douglas High School boys basketball team are similar, in that they disappointed some people, but they are not equal. The organizers of a recall effort against Mayor Stephen Prysunka made the wise decision not to fight over the legality of their recall petition, and instead to focus on the assembly seats at stake in the next municipal election. Rather than burn up time and money in litigation over the city's...
The governor will go to great lengths to avoid supporting a tax - any tax - but taxes are how people pay for public services. Instead of thinking about the public, his administration's latest ill-conceived plan is to close Division of Motor Vehicle offices in six small communities so that he can claim budget savings of $500,000 a year. Of course, what the state may save, the public would have to pay - and more. The administration has proposed contracting with private operators to provide...
Group wants to include homeschooled graduates The Wrangell High School class of 2021 will soon be graduating, with traditional festivities reduced again by the coronavirus pandemic. Wrangell has a long history of celebrating female graduates and the women who have mothered them. Beta Sigma Phi inherited the tradition from the Wrangell Civic Club years ago and plans to continue it this spring. We are planning a COVID-safe mother-daughter recognition for April to celebrate our high school...
Almost half of Wrangell residents have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot. Close to 30% of all Alaskans have too, and the state has opened vaccination eligibility to everyone over the age of 16. Nationwide, more than 72 million people have received at least their first shot. And while the number of people testing positive for the virus is on a welcome decline across most of the country, it's too soon to totally let up on being careful. Petersburg reported more than 100 infection...
